Blood On My Hands
by TealDay
Summary: When JJ is forced to shoot an UnSub, emotions spill over on the team. A JJ/Reid friendship fic; if you squint, maybe a ship.      Please please please Review! First fanfic... :3


Hey kids, this is my first fanfic submission ever! I'm extremely excited; **crosses fingers for reviews of any sort!** This is a prompt from Chit Chat on Authors Corner:

Daisyangel: JJ/Reid; Character A gives Character B advice on something.

Oh FYI I made Reid Character A and JJ Character B… I hope that's chill.

PS.

Okay, I'm not really that happy with the ending, so don't hate me guys.

"_If y'all don't step back right now, something regreatable is goin' to happen!" _

_Agent Jareau's hand subconsciously twitched towards her holster, her eyes never leaving the UnSub. Roughly forty-eight hours ago, James Walton had abducted two 16-year-old emotionally disturbed teens from Dorothea Dix Hospital. Erica Summers' body had been found brutally raped and mutilated, face down in Lake Gaston. The BAU team had not slept more than 3 hours each since landing in Raleigh, North Carolina, determined to catch the Perp before he had the opportunity to take another innocents' life. After persistent sleuthing a la Garcia, they had come to discover that the facility's overnight guard failed to report to work the previous day. Seeing that alone as sketchy, the technical analyzer decided to delve deeper into the guards' past. It turned out that the employee's younger sister had been discharged from the Hospital three weeks previous to the attacks, only to take her own life two days later. Racked with grief, Walton decided to take the lives of both Summer and Kathryn Broadhead into his own hands. Now, with the barrel of a small Glock G17 lodged into the sensitive skin of Kathryn's temple, JJ's eyes gave way to meet Hotch's curt nod. She raised her shaped eyebrows in response. One more terse head movement from the Unit Chief, and the Media Liaison understood. _

_ "You've got the cleanest shot from your angle," Hotch's eyes seemed to telegraph, "Ready yourself." From there, she knew. JJ had worked had worked steadily with the BAU for almost six years. She placed an immense amount of trust in each and every profile given. This UnSub had lost everything worthwhile to him; his mind already made up. James Walton would not go down without a fight, taking as many lives as possible with him. _

_ " I __**said, **__back __**up! **__All of you! Now!" Walton sniffed, his hand tightening on both Kathryn's arm and the trigger. The young girl let out a premature whimper. Looking down, the UnSub spoke quietly into the teen's ear, but with just enough volume for JJ to hear._

_ "When you die," he started mildly, "tell my sister-" _

_Walton was cut of midsentence. _

_Two clean bullet wounds were suddenly visible on the UnSubs chest, as blood began to seep._

_Even though JJ was meters away from James Walton, the blond agent felt as though the red fluid was on her hands. _

Jennifer Jareau took a shaky breath, ensuring that her colleagues didn't see how shaken she truly felt. After going over the events earlier today for the millionth time, JJ finally felt the adrenaline begin to slow, and the plummeting pit in her stomach begin its deliberate descent. She'd taken a mans life. No matter how many times she told herself that in that situation, there weren't any other options, JJ still felt dazed. Running a quick hand through her flaxen locks, the young woman surveyed the luxury plane and its occupants.

Morgan had succumbed to sleep almost the instant he had stepped foot onto the jet. Now, a soft fleece blanket covered his legs; a bizarre contrast to his macho-man outer appearance. Rossi too was out cold, head tilted towards the window. Hotch, always the glutton for punishment, was sifting through the last of the file reports. Ever since Hailey, their Unit Chief seemed to throw himself more into work then ever, if that was humanly possible.

"_But then again," _smiled JJ, "_Hotch was never that human to begin with."_

The other female onboard, Emily Prentiss, had her iPod tuned neatly into her ears, enjoying some smooth jazz. JJ remembered how Emily had explained to her how the genre almost always calmed her nerves after an intense case; they appeared to be working. The Agent had already attempted to get Jayje to take a listen to Miles Davis, but the younger SSA had simply shrugged off the offer, providing a strained smile instead. It felt strange to be the one that was comforted, instead of the other way around. JJ was so used to giving sympathetic hand squeezes, lending an ear, that the role reversal was beginning to sit strangely with her.

"I don't like it," JJ mumbled inaudibly. "I don't like it at all."

"Don't like what JJ?"

The Media Liaison jumped. Spencer Reid's eyebrows shot up.

"Didn't mean to scare you there Jayje." The youthful genius apologized slowly, annunciating every word, both palms facing outwards.

"It's fine Spence…I just can't seem to sleep." The Supervisory Special Agent murmured, bringing her hand up to rub the bridge of her nose, brows turning down.

Setting aside his makeshift dinner of half thawed out, half frozen pizza, Reid sat down across from his friend. Soon, a small, helpful smile tugging at the left side of his face, and opened his mouth.

"You know, a surprising amount Fedral Agents fire their-"

JJ raised a silencing hand.

"Spence? Not the right day for statistics."

Reid mumbled his apologies once more.

The two youngest members of the team sat in comfortable silence, simply enjoying each other's company. JJ glanced over at Spence from the corner of her eye. For the first time since the horrific event, JJ cracked a smile.

"Spence?"

"Hmm?"

"You still have pizza sauce in the corner of your mouth." JJ referred, dabbing her check.

"Oh." Reid flushed, and awkwardly leaned over to grab a paper towel.

The site of Boy Genius getting so flustered brought a laugh to her lips. JJ leaned back, thanking God above for blessing her with such a perfect makeshift little brother. Albeit one with the IQ of 187. Nonetheless, JJ valued Reid's opinion. As soon as the amusement left her mind, the darker thoughts began to cloud her mind once again.

"Spence?" JJ asked once more.

"Yeah Jayje?"

Instead of answering, JJ simply heaved a heavy, sob-filled breath, and Reid immediately sobered.

Averting her eyes, she continued.

"I can't stop, thinking about what he said, or, was going to say." JJ spoke deliberately, every word, every syllable, a battle in itself.

Reid said nothing, allowing her to think everything through.

" I cut off a dying mans last words Spence." she let out a shaky, bitter laugh.

JJ paused, collecting herself.

"And now-" her voice broke midsentence. Taking a deep breath, she continued.

"And now, I have to live with it. I _killed _a man today. I ended someone's life." JJ finally lifted her eyes to meet his.

"What do I do now Spence?" she asked, her eyes wild with inner turmoil.

Reid stayed silent, his gaze glued to the floor.

After what felt like a century, the two friends lock eyes.

"JJ," Reid started, "you ended someone's life today." he repeated. "And when it hits… it'll hit you hard."

JJ's eyes began to close.

"But," Spence interjected, "We'll all be here when that happens. Look around you Jayje. We'll all be here. And-"

Reid stopped talking, and released a content sigh.

It appeared to be that Jennifer Jareau seemed to be fast asleep.


End file.
